In sports there is an over used saying “next man up” that is referring to the next person in line to fulfill the position vacated by an injury or poor performance. The really good teams have two or three people capable to fulfill the position “waiting” for their chance and for their name to be called. In most cases, when asked most athletes have a story of when they received “their chance” and what they did to make the most of their opportunity. I could go through and name several professional and collegiate programs that perennially have a lot of success and when the coach is asked about the success they often refer to the fact that they have a very experienced team and when someone gets injured there is a person waiting for their opportunity to step up. I could also name several athletes in team sports that have gone on to have a very good career when they received “their chance” and they went on to make the most of it and became a superstar.

The point of this, we need to be looking at our organization and constantly develop people that are ready to be “the next man up” when a spot becomes available.

Think of when your service advisor has a family emergency or is sick, who fills in for them and how ready is that person to fill their shoes? My guess is there is a significant drop off in talent and that person is simply filling a hole for you to help reduce the stress on the department and the other employees.

This is not an easy answer and it is even harder to execute, taking in consideration that fine line of being over staffed and over expensed to simply have the pleasure of having a person ready to step in and help on the service drive.

So how do good organizations do this? They put a premium on training, cross training and a build a culture within the walls of the dealership that fosters this mentality.

The first step is to look at every position; this includes the manager position all the way to the car wash or porter position. Evaluate who would fill the position tomorrow if you lost someone for an extended period of time and then evaluate what training do they need to be ready to take on the added responsibility. I know we all have a shuttle driver, support person, office clerk that could “fill in” but the point is great companies have people ready to do more than simply fill in; they have cross trained and developed the next person in line to be ready for their chance to step up and take on the new role. As managers we need to be thinking, who is the person to take on my duties when we are away from the office? Who is our replacement?

Identify and develop your people, the more knowledge they have the better off your team will perform. Take the time to cross train and grow your people from within, they will perform better and faster than trying to hire someone from the outside. As you are evaluating your team and you have someone in a position that is not able to step up in the next role, you need to really look at what type of exposure that is to your organization and determine a game plan. The ultimate goal is to have a cross trained person that has been trained in all facets of the organization that is simply looking for their opportunity to “step up.”

In sports there is an over used saying “next man up” that is referring to the next person in line to fulfill the position vacated by an injury or poor performance. The really good teams have two or three people capable to fulfill the position “waiting” for their chance and for their name to be called. In most cases, when asked most athletes have a story of when they received “their chance” and what they did to make the most of their opportunity. I could go through and name several professional and collegiate programs that perennially have a lot of success and when the coach is asked about the success they often refer to the fact that they have a very experienced team and when someone gets injured there is a person waiting for their opportunity to step up. I could also name several athletes in team sports that have gone on to have a very good career when they received “their chance” and they went on to make the most of it and became a superstar.

The point of this, we need to be looking at our organization and constantly develop people that are ready to be “the next man up” when a spot becomes available.

Think of when your service advisor has a family emergency or is sick, who fills in for them and how ready is that person to fill their shoes? My guess is there is a significant drop off in talent and that person is simply filling a hole for you to help reduce the stress on the department and the other employees.

This is not an easy answer and it is even harder to execute, taking in consideration that fine line of being over staffed and over expensed to simply have the pleasure of having a person ready to step in and help on the service drive.

So how do good organizations do this? They put a premium on training, cross training and a build a culture within the walls of the dealership that fosters this mentality.

The first step is to look at every position; this includes the manager position all the way to the car wash or porter position. Evaluate who would fill the position tomorrow if you lost someone for an extended period of time and then evaluate what training do they need to be ready to take on the added responsibility. I know we all have a shuttle driver, support person, office clerk that could “fill in” but the point is great companies have people ready to do more than simply fill in; they have cross trained and developed the next person in line to be ready for their chance to step up and take on the new role. As managers we need to be thinking, who is the person to take on my duties when we are away from the office? Who is our replacement?

Identify and develop your people, the more knowledge they have the better off your team will perform. Take the time to cross train and grow your people from within, they will perform better and faster than trying to hire someone from the outside. As you are evaluating your team and you have someone in a position that is not able to step up in the next role, you need to really look at what type of exposure that is to your organization and determine a game plan. The ultimate goal is to have a cross trained person that has been trained in all facets of the organization that is simply looking for their opportunity to “step up.”

Looking forward to the New Year and in most of my conversations with executive level management about their fixed operations business, they have indicated that 2016 represents an opportunity to make a few little changes to have a really successful year. Some of these changes they point out are doing a better job handling the increased traffic or improving on the customer experience slightly to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. All of these tactics are well deserved and certainly needed but I would suggest adding one more element to those tactics to maximize their effectiveness.

I have yet to have a discussion with any level of executive leadership that indicated the changes that they will be making to make the team stronger and yield better results. Here is a suggestion, invest your time into your people and help them build strong teams.

I recently read an article on HBR.com that discussed the importance of using the word “together” when developing your action plans for change or implementing a new policy. They continue stating that studies show a dramatic increase in the performance and engagement of an employee that is in a workplace with relatedness.

“The feeling of working together has indeed been shown to predict greater

motivation, particularly intrinsic motivation, that magical elixir of interest,

enjoyment, and engagement that brings with it the very best performance.”

As I read this article and related it to the automotive dealership I was constantly reminded that in most cases, under the same roof, three or four teams work very independently. The teams I am referring to are the Sales, Service and Parts teams. Although history would not indicate this is going to change anytime soon I would encourage any dealer to get everyone working together as a cohesive team.

“So what we need is a way to give employees the feeling of working as a team, even when they technically aren’t. And thanks to new research by Priyanka Carr and Greg Walton of Stanford University, we now know one powerful way to do this: simply saying the word “together.”

Two thousand and sixteen will be a great year for the automotive industry but we need to be aware of the cyclical nature of our business and what is looming out there in the years to come. I am reminded of a saying that applies here “you fix your roof on a sunny day.” So Today, lets focus on our people, build a well-informed cohesive team that is a ready for what the industry will throw at us.

Looking forward to the New Year and in most of my conversations with executive level management about their fixed operations business, they have indicated that 2016 represents an opportunity to make a few little changes to have a really successful year. Some of these changes they point out are doing a better job handling the increased traffic or improving on the customer experience slightly to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. All of these tactics are well deserved and certainly needed but I would suggest adding one more element to those tactics to maximize their effectiveness.

I have yet to have a discussion with any level of executive leadership that indicated the changes that they will be making to make the team stronger and yield better results. Here is a suggestion, invest your time into your people and help them build strong teams.

I recently read an article on HBR.com that discussed the importance of using the word “together” when developing your action plans for change or implementing a new policy. They continue stating that studies show a dramatic increase in the performance and engagement of an employee that is in a workplace with relatedness.

“The feeling of working together has indeed been shown to predict greater

motivation, particularly intrinsic motivation, that magical elixir of interest,

enjoyment, and engagement that brings with it the very best performance.”

As I read this article and related it to the automotive dealership I was constantly reminded that in most cases, under the same roof, three or four teams work very independently. The teams I am referring to are the Sales, Service and Parts teams. Although history would not indicate this is going to change anytime soon I would encourage any dealer to get everyone working together as a cohesive team.

“So what we need is a way to give employees the feeling of working as a team, even when they technically aren’t. And thanks to new research by Priyanka Carr and Greg Walton of Stanford University, we now know one powerful way to do this: simply saying the word “together.”

Two thousand and sixteen will be a great year for the automotive industry but we need to be aware of the cyclical nature of our business and what is looming out there in the years to come. I am reminded of a saying that applies here “you fix your roof on a sunny day.” So Today, lets focus on our people, build a well-informed cohesive team that is a ready for what the industry will throw at us.

As you are preparing for 2016 and finalizing your forecast, keep in mind the biggest opportunity for improvement: Building a passionate work culture that is able to deliver high-level results.

In the biology world the term “culture” refers to the cultivation of microorganisms. Relating this to the automotive industry, I automatically refer back to the latest NADA workforce study where it states that in an average dealership, barely 50% of the employees make it to the three-year milestone. Stores that exceed this level see an increase in sales and customer satisfaction scores due to the actions of a senior staff. As leaders in this industry it is time to invest your efforts in growing and building your team, creating a positive workplace culture and maximizing your human capital.

Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together.

 - Here are some tips in building a positive workplace culture

• Have a clear vision statement
• Establish trust for all employees and the employer
• Insist on mutual respect between employees and management
• Have a positive attitude and look for a positive attitude when hiring
• Open door policy
• Open communication and keep employees informed of exciting new changes

Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.

 - Here are a few tips to grow your human capital

• Embrace creativity
• Encourage growth in knowledge, have a clear training plan
• Think laterally and solve problems through an indirect and creative approach
• Discuss issues in a solution-oriented way
• Improve employer and employee relationships

To begin leveraging human capital and a positive workplace culture start with the basic measurement of the effectiveness of everything from training programs to employee engagement. Use these analytics to make decisions on grooming talent and finding ways to keep it. Companies that place a premium on human capital, measuring it, and treating it as a pure asset will increase the margin between those that succeed and everyone else.

As you are preparing for 2016 and finalizing your forecast, keep in mind the biggest opportunity for improvement: Building a passionate work culture that is able to deliver high-level results.

In the biology world the term “culture” refers to the cultivation of microorganisms. Relating this to the automotive industry, I automatically refer back to the latest NADA workforce study where it states that in an average dealership, barely 50% of the employees make it to the three-year milestone. Stores that exceed this level see an increase in sales and customer satisfaction scores due to the actions of a senior staff. As leaders in this industry it is time to invest your efforts in growing and building your team, creating a positive workplace culture and maximizing your human capital.

Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together.

 - Here are some tips in building a positive workplace culture

• Have a clear vision statement
• Establish trust for all employees and the employer
• Insist on mutual respect between employees and management
• Have a positive attitude and look for a positive attitude when hiring
• Open door policy
• Open communication and keep employees informed of exciting new changes

Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.

 - Here are a few tips to grow your human capital

• Embrace creativity
• Encourage growth in knowledge, have a clear training plan
• Think laterally and solve problems through an indirect and creative approach
• Discuss issues in a solution-oriented way
• Improve employer and employee relationships

To begin leveraging human capital and a positive workplace culture start with the basic measurement of the effectiveness of everything from training programs to employee engagement. Use these analytics to make decisions on grooming talent and finding ways to keep it. Companies that place a premium on human capital, measuring it, and treating it as a pure asset will increase the margin between those that succeed and everyone else.

Understanding the difference between a “transactional customer” and a “relational customer” is the first step to helping your team succeed in customer satisfaction and future sales.

Applying an ideal training program that gives your employee the competence and the confidence to help customers properly and start building a “relational” type customer is the next step.

“Sales people are not needed to quote prices. They are the bridge between the selling price and the perception of value provided to earn the sale – Jeffery Gitomer

A transactional customer is simply there to fill their current need. They are customers that you will see in your service department once a year or maybe once every two years having a repair completed on their vehicle. Compare that to the relational customer when you review their service history they have pages upon pages of service history and their service history includes all type of services from oil changes to mechanical repair.

Here are a few more quick examples comparing the two different customers we see on a daily basis.

Transactional Shopper

• Only focused on todays need, has little thought of future purchases
• “Good deal” Price is the number one influencer in purchase decision and are very happy to negotiate
• Have already become the expert of the needed repair due to the research they have already performed

Relational Shopper

• Considers todays purchase as a series of future purchases
• Motivating factor or purchase decision is confidence in making the right decision, not price – They are simply looking for the “right place to buy”
• Looking for an expert they can trust

Now it should be very easy to see and determine what type of customer you would like to see more of in your service drive. Now lets take the next step and talk about the most effective way to help your staff achieve this goal.

Training – the key to helping your team become better is first recognition, and then developing a training plan to help overcome some of these type of roadblocks in service.

A consistent training program will help your team identify these customers and have the confidence to help convert all your customers into a relational type long-term loyal customer. Here are some training tips to accomplish this.

• Repetition – Train, train again and then train again. The more you talk about it the more effective it becomes
• Variety – Discuss the same topics if necessary but look at it from all angles and apply a different approach.
• Small Doses – instead of having an hour-long session consider 4  - fifteen minute training sessions to keep it short and simple and not a burden.
• Apply knowledge quickly – encourage employees to apply todays training content immediately, even on the next customer.
• Interesting – make it interesting and encourage collaboration.
• Feedback – encourage feedback from your employees for future training.

Now that you are looking at your customer base differently, discuss it with your team and help them identify the benefits of having relational type customer in the service drive. Knowing that a relational type customer is looking for an expert to help them make the right decision, apply a training program that gives them the confidence to be the expert.

Understanding the difference between a “transactional customer” and a “relational customer” is the first step to helping your team succeed in customer satisfaction and future sales.

Applying an ideal training program that gives your employee the competence and the confidence to help customers properly and start building a “relational” type customer is the next step.

“Sales people are not needed to quote prices. They are the bridge between the selling price and the perception of value provided to earn the sale – Jeffery Gitomer

A transactional customer is simply there to fill their current need. They are customers that you will see in your service department once a year or maybe once every two years having a repair completed on their vehicle. Compare that to the relational customer when you review their service history they have pages upon pages of service history and their service history includes all type of services from oil changes to mechanical repair.

Here are a few more quick examples comparing the two different customers we see on a daily basis.

Transactional Shopper

• Only focused on todays need, has little thought of future purchases
• “Good deal” Price is the number one influencer in purchase decision and are very happy to negotiate
• Have already become the expert of the needed repair due to the research they have already performed

Relational Shopper

• Considers todays purchase as a series of future purchases
• Motivating factor or purchase decision is confidence in making the right decision, not price – They are simply looking for the “right place to buy”
• Looking for an expert they can trust

Now it should be very easy to see and determine what type of customer you would like to see more of in your service drive. Now lets take the next step and talk about the most effective way to help your staff achieve this goal.

Training – the key to helping your team become better is first recognition, and then developing a training plan to help overcome some of these type of roadblocks in service.

A consistent training program will help your team identify these customers and have the confidence to help convert all your customers into a relational type long-term loyal customer. Here are some training tips to accomplish this.

• Repetition – Train, train again and then train again. The more you talk about it the more effective it becomes
• Variety – Discuss the same topics if necessary but look at it from all angles and apply a different approach.
• Small Doses – instead of having an hour-long session consider 4  - fifteen minute training sessions to keep it short and simple and not a burden.
• Apply knowledge quickly – encourage employees to apply todays training content immediately, even on the next customer.
• Interesting – make it interesting and encourage collaboration.
• Feedback – encourage feedback from your employees for future training.

Now that you are looking at your customer base differently, discuss it with your team and help them identify the benefits of having relational type customer in the service drive. Knowing that a relational type customer is looking for an expert to help them make the right decision, apply a training program that gives them the confidence to be the expert.

Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.

Providing ongoing training not only helps your employees perform their duties with more efficiency, but it also adds to their satisfaction and fulfillment within their job. To this date, when performing exit interviews I have never heard an employees reason for leaving was excessive training and investing too much into their career development. Unfortunately we do a poor job giving our employees the foundation of training it takes to succeed?

I do believe that a small percentage do a good job in this area, but the large majority within our industry fall below the minimum acceptable level.

Here are a few benefits to having an ongoing training program

• Reduce cost of turnover – A recent survey indicates that 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year.
• Enhanced company image – Your customers are able to “feel” the culture of a business. A culture of a turnover-laden business does not increase customer satisfaction; actually it will directly affect you negatively. An enhanced company image will help you retain additional customers and employees.
• Increased employee motivation and efficiencies in processes – Quite often after a training session, I will have an employee come to me with a proposed solution to an ongoing problem or process that will improve customer satisfaction. There have been many times when the proposed solution was not implemented, but at least I know where the frame of mind was for my employee and they were looking for ways to improve our business.
• Increased professionalism – You never get a second chance to make a first impression and again this holds true here as well. Especially within our business we could use a little shot in the arm to up our professional standards.
• Increased sales and profits – This is one that does not happen immediately after a training session, so don’t loose sight of the end goal. Although not immediate, it is proven that someone that is properly trained will yield greater success within his or her career.

The greatest preparation for the future comes from planning and investing in your people. The best and most effective way to do this is develop a well-rounded training program.  

Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.

Providing ongoing training not only helps your employees perform their duties with more efficiency, but it also adds to their satisfaction and fulfillment within their job. To this date, when performing exit interviews I have never heard an employees reason for leaving was excessive training and investing too much into their career development. Unfortunately we do a poor job giving our employees the foundation of training it takes to succeed?

I do believe that a small percentage do a good job in this area, but the large majority within our industry fall below the minimum acceptable level.

Here are a few benefits to having an ongoing training program

• Reduce cost of turnover – A recent survey indicates that 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year.
• Enhanced company image – Your customers are able to “feel” the culture of a business. A culture of a turnover-laden business does not increase customer satisfaction; actually it will directly affect you negatively. An enhanced company image will help you retain additional customers and employees.
• Increased employee motivation and efficiencies in processes – Quite often after a training session, I will have an employee come to me with a proposed solution to an ongoing problem or process that will improve customer satisfaction. There have been many times when the proposed solution was not implemented, but at least I know where the frame of mind was for my employee and they were looking for ways to improve our business.
• Increased professionalism – You never get a second chance to make a first impression and again this holds true here as well. Especially within our business we could use a little shot in the arm to up our professional standards.
• Increased sales and profits – This is one that does not happen immediately after a training session, so don’t loose sight of the end goal. Although not immediate, it is proven that someone that is properly trained will yield greater success within his or her career.

The greatest preparation for the future comes from planning and investing in your people. The best and most effective way to do this is develop a well-rounded training program.